A Readers’ Contest Dedicated to Pascha and Victory Day Held in the Southern Capital

On May 4, 2025, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the readers’ contest “No One Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Forgotten” was held in the church assembly hall of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Almaty.

The event was dedicated to the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ and the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The jury, chaired by Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, included: M.S. Simakova, Deputy Head of the Rossotrudnichestvo Representative Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan; N.G. Martynova, philologist and teacher of Russian language and literature, highest qualification category; G.V. Cherepanova, Director of the Central Sunday School of Almaty; N.S. Utkina, Russian language and literature teacher at the Arystan Specialized Military Lyceum; and L.M. Gizatullina, teacher at the Central Sunday School.

The contest was organized by the Central Sunday School of the Southern Capital with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo and the Department of Culture of the Kazakhstan Metropolis.

A total of 80 children from 12 Sunday schools of the Almaty Diocese took part, competing in 7 age categories: 5–6, 7–8, 9–10, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, and 17 years and older.

After the performances, Bishop Gennady addressed the participants with a word of edification, offering practical advice for recitation work and thanking the organizing committee for the excellent coordination.

M.S. Simakova emphasized the importance and necessity of such events for the younger generation in today’s world.

G.V. Cherepanova expressed her gratitude to Bishop Gennady, the teachers, and the parents.

Winners by age category:

Ages 5–6

1st – Marina Filippova, Central Sunday School

2nd – Bogdana Kaledina & Marina Yaroshenko, Central Sunday School

3rd – Alexandra Plotnikova, Central Sunday School; Rafael Asimov, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva Church, Almaty

Ages 7–8

1st – Tikhon Vnukov, Sunday School of St. Nicholas Church, Irgeli

2nd – Alisa Reshetina, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva Church; Anfisa Khlopotenko, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian Church, Almaty

3rd – Anastasia Gizatullina, Sunday School of Kazan Cathedral; Darya Belyaeva & Timur Dautov, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian

Honorable mention – Sofia Budilova & Maria Pikalova, Central Sunday School; Luka Blednykh, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva Church

Ages 9–10

1st – Sofia Vnukova, Sunday School of St. Nicholas Church, Irgeli

2nd – Mary Kogan, Central Sunday School; Ksenia Kolesnikova, Sunday School of Kazan Cathedral

3rd – Sofia Mamontova, Central Sunday School; Angelina Dmitrienko, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian; Platon Mikheev, Sunday School of St. Vladimir Church, Baganashil

Honorable mention – Yegor Terentyev, Central Sunday School

Ages 11–12

1st – Elena Autova, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian

2nd – Bogdan Kodintsev, Central Sunday School; Viktoria Suchkova, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian

3rd – Ilya Budaev, Central Sunday School; Zakhar Konakov & Valeriya Toporova, Sunday School of St. John the Theologian; Timofey Reshetin, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva

Honorable mention – Nikolai Kolesnikov, Sunday School of Kazan Cathedral

Ages 13–14

1st – Anastasia Vinnikova, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva

2nd – Varvara Vysotskaya & Alexey Sobolev, Central Sunday School

3rd – Zlata Livets, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva; Anna Khasanova, Central Sunday School

Honorable mention – Marina Obukhova, Sunday School of Ss. Adrian and Natalia, Otegen Batyr

Ages 15–16

1st – Maria Petrova, Central Sunday School

2nd – Darya Rusinova, Central Sunday School

3rd – Dmitry Tsukanov, Sunday School of Ss. Cosmas and Damian of Asia

Honorable mention – Roman Gaevsky, Sunday School of St. Vladimir Church, Baganashil

Ages 17 and older

1st – Konstantin Kravchenko, Sunday School of St. Vladimir Church, Baganashil

2nd – Darya Layurova, Central Sunday School of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Almaty

3rd – Kira Vasilenko, Central Sunday School

As part of the event, awards were also presented for the Paschal Drawing and Craft Exhibition and the International Applied Arts Contest “Paschal Egg,” featuring entries from the Sunday schools of Almaty.

“Craft” Category

1st – Central Sunday School

2nd – Sunday School of the Ascension Cathedral and Sunday School of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent

3rd – Sunday School of St. Vladimir Church; Sunday School of Ss. Cosmas and Damian of Asia

“Drawing” Category

1st – Sunday School of Kazan Cathedral

2nd – Sunday School of St. Vladimir Church; Sunday School of St. John the Theologian

3rd – Central Sunday School; Sunday School of the Iveron-Seraphim Convent

“Paschal Egg” Contest Winners

1st – Sofia Ovsiyenko, Central Sunday School

3rd – Kristina Shamsutdinova, Sunday School of St. Paraskeva Church

For their role in organizing the regional stage of the International “Paschal Egg” festival-contest and their contributions to the development of applied arts, teachers of the Central Sunday School – V.N. Popov and T.N. Remizova – were awarded.